Diamond in the Rough
by Church -Caboose- Shepard
Summary: The end of the Reaper war has come and gone. The galaxy is repairing, and its people grieve. However, for Shepard's sole surviving heir, Benese, mysteries from the past, will soon become clear. As she is thrust into yet another ominous presence that may yet again threaten the galaxy. (Start of a) Sequel to The Cycle.
1. Prologue

**AN: **Sorry folks, got to start off with a large little memo to you and myself. This is a story that I've had in my head for a while, and I really want to get it written down. This will be a sequel to my main story and crossover, _The Cycle_. However, it will hold only minor spoilers. So far, there will only be this prologue, that will set down the main characters (That is until the before mentioned story is finished. I have vast plans for the universe made in _The Cycle, _and I would like very much to share them with you. The only thing that will be spoiled for the previous story (For now) is Shepard's final love interest.

The love interest was chosen by you, the readers, through a poll I had posted months ago. So that's set and done. Everything else, including the ending and if Shepard lives, are up in the air. And will more than likely be chosen by you, so go and follow _The Cycle _already! If you want a chance to completely change this universe.

On another special side note, I want to point out a grammar mistake most of you will notice. Every species has their species name capitalized (i.e. Asari, Human etc). The reason for this is because the Halo races are capitalized, and it bugs me to only have half of them with a capital letter. For a more detailed explanation, go read _The Cycle._ (Think I have enough requests to go read that story yet?)

* * *

**Prologue**

**A Diamond in the Rough**

**Thessia**

On the Asari home world, one particular thing of beauty stood out over all the rest. One would be hard pressed to discover exactly what that would be. Thessia was overrun with beautiful sites. Most would guess the population, filled with Asari seen as stunning by every species imaginable, would be the top tourist draw. Others would be closer to the truth, proclaiming the natural landscape their sole desire to see. And if you asked a soldier, they would point you to the Reaper war memorial, a simple light placed into the country side of what used to be a sprawling city. Their reasoning was one of remembrance, remembering that the light shown out into the night sky, powerful enough to be seen from space, would shine forever. That the light would be there to always remind the galaxy of the billions who's light was extinguished forever.

However, as the young Asari Benese Shepard sat on a school bench, she didn't think of any of this. She never thought about war memorials, or nature, least of all about beautiful women, she was far too young to have such thoughts in her mind. Instead, Benese thought only about how alluring the sun set was.

She watched them, every chance she had. Her school seemed to have the best place to just sit and watch them, from the front balcony of the third floor. At that exact spot, Benese was able to see everything she dreamed about. It wasn't too high to have the view blocked by skycar traffic, but wasn't too low so as to have her eye sight obstructed by a tree line. Everything came together just right, so as to view the most spectacular sunset. According to her, Thessia must have the best sunsets in the galaxy. For it was only on Thessia, that the natural eezo could fly into the air, creating an amazing blue tint to the star as it passed below the horizon.

That moment of when the sun hit just the right angle in its descent, right as it touched the background of the horizon, she would always move to the edge of her seat, grinning wildly for the moment it would fade out of sight and mind. It made her gleeful every time.

However, on this feigning evening, Benese was not alone. Disgruntled by the visitor, she tried to ignore them completely, not willing to let anything run that perfect moment when the sun morphed into the tip of the horizon. Unfortunately, this visitor intended to stay.

"Hello, Benese. I thought you might still be here. May I sit with you?" Liara asked. Without waiting to be answered, she sat down on the bench next to her daughter, careful not to disturb her with any kind of contact. She folded her hands in her own lap, resisting every urge she had to just hug and coddle the girl next to her.

Never taking her eyes away from the horizon, Benese responded, "Of course, mother. It's not like I had a choice." She spoke in a sarcastic tone, careful not too make it harsh enough to receive punishment.

"Oh Benese," Liara sighed, "You always have a choice my love."

She looked towards her mother, tears welling up in her eyes. "Then I don't want uncle Joker to die."

"Sweetheart," grumbled Liara, who pulled the child into her arms, embracing her in a hug. "They say our life spans are some kind of blessing. But you have to understand, 40 years for you is a long time for Joker. He's been through so much, and has been sick for so very long."

Unable to contain herself, Benese buried her head into Liara's chest, water rolling down her bright blue cheeks between sobs.

"But it isn't fair!"

"I know Benese, life for a child is never fair."

Benese never was able to watch the sunset that day.

* * *

**Earth **

**A few days later**

Earth was something vastly different than Thessia. Unlike the latter, her landscape hadn't fully returned from the war, the cities seemed even less so. Even decades after peace, Earth still seemed to lag behind the Asari by a few years. Yet, for all Thessia's seemingly better qualities, Liara still loved the planet just as equally. Benese would often question her mother's motives on this subject, and was always meant with the same response. "That planet brought me everything I love, including you."

In response, Benese always asked, "But wasn't I born on Thessia? What did Earth ever have to do with me?" This normally caused her mother to retreat into solitude, always unable to answer.

However, this was Benese's first time visiting Earth, and she was bound and determined to dig up some kind of answers. For a child, she was heavily inquisitive, always rushing to clues searching for the next answer to some unsolved mystery.

Upon first landing on the planet, Benese was forced to admit there was a certain charm that came with Humanity. While her home was adorned in splendid colors, and plenty of blue, Earth sparkled with something different. Her people were unique, all of them their own special individual. Even the dock workers all dripped with the possibility of a story that evolved into its own splendid tale. Every face looked different from the last, and not one of them seemed to notice the difference.

She had heard of how Humanity played a role in stopping the Reapers and the Covenant. More than a role, they were the leaders in that fight. Even their enemies were forced to rally behind the banner of Earth. For some reason, her mother never wished to talk about the war, never wanted to discuss anything having to do with it. Benese never pressed her on this, she always assumed there had been something precious to her mother lost when the fighting happened. Something that Benese still wanted to know about.

Mysterious would have to be saved for later, now the only thing that occupied her thoughts was of her dear sick uncle.

Gripping her mother's hand, which easily dwarfed her own, Benese looked up to the seemingly all knowing figure before her. Liara was adorned in a simple outfit, white skintight pants and a purple shirt that hugged her tightly. What had caught Benese's eye, however, was the simple golden ring worn on Liara's left hand. That seemingly simple piece of metal, had become the biggest inquiry of Benese's young life. For herself, Liara had dressed Benese into a small green dress with slick black dress shoes and stockings, all had been supplied by Joker for a birthday long ago.

The two stood on a small train, which was travelling from the center of a large city, to a military Hospital near the city's edge. The journey didn't take more than a few fleeting minutes, but it was enough for Benese to view a great deal of the city. If each Human was a unique creature all their own, then their architucture reflected it. For every building she saw, two more appeared more fascinating than the last.

Taking a step back from her amusement, Benese thought about her mother's love for Earth once more. Still facing the window, she asked, "Mother, was my father from Earth?" Looking from the corner of her eye, Benese was only able to see a small flinch in Liara's other wise stone cold face. She never received an answer, but that had been enough for her to know.

Skidding to a halt, the train stopped at a platform that appeared to be floating in the sky. Once the door had slid open and the pair stepped off, Benese realized that it was just a large open stop, supported by pillars on the ground. Turning to her right, Liara pushed through the small crowd on the station, filled with Humans trying to board and disembark. All of them seemed to be in some kind of a hurry.

Focusing on her target, Liara rushed to the end of the platform. She gripped Benese's hand tightly as she walked, unwilling to lose her in the crowd. At the end of the platform, was a medium sized walkway, still suspended into the air by concrete pillars down below. Where the walkway ended, the entrance of the Hospital could be seen.

It didn't take long for Liara to quickly step down the path, dodging people as she went, child still in hand. Once the sliding doors opened, the Asari were immediately rushed with a gust of cool air conditioned air.

Noticing the front desk ahead of her, Liara walked up to it and waited patiently for the nurse behind it to finish her call. Once through, she looked up at her, grinning with an unusually large smile. Something about the nurse, seemed to scare Benese, who coward behind her mother's legs.

"And what can I do for you, dearies?" the nurse asked, eyes wide open, waiting for a response.

"I need the room number for Jeff Moreau. We're family friends, hoping to visit."

"Oh, you're here to see ol' Joker. He's right down that hall." The nurse leaned over the desk and used her pen to point down the hall on the left. "Third door on your left, sweetie. Oh and quick reminder, we don't allow any droids or pets while you're here."

With that, Liara nodded her thanks, and headed straight for the room.

What ever the pair had expected to see, seemed so much better than what was there before them. The center of the room housed Joker, who was bedridden and weak, hooked up to machines with multiple functions. He didn't seem to notice the two enter the room, that was until Benese ran up to hug him.

"Uncle Joker!" she screamed, jumping on top of him in the bed without care.

"Ow! Hey kiddo!" Despite his pain, Joker still wrapped his arms around her to embrace the hug he received.

"Benese!" Liara screamed, "Get off of him."

"Oh don't worry about it, Liara. The docs have me so drugged up, I'm lucky I felt a thing. But she probably broke a rib or two." This created a giggle from Benese, who moved over on the bed to sit by his side. His face seemed to brighten at their presence, and his entire demeanor changed to something more akin to his former self. "Thanks for coming."

Crossing her arms, Liara looked at him puzzled. "Surely we can't be the first to arrive?"

"Don't call me Shirley," Joker grumbled, before pulling himself up to look at her. "Garrus has been here for a while. Had to go down the hall to use the head. Old man bladder I guess. Ashley called, but is too busy trying to run the Navy, she said not to die before her next vacation. Adams and Cortez sent some flowers, very touching really. I think Thane's son actually sent me a card, didn't have anything it it other than a small alien prayer, but it's the thought that counts. Oh and Wrex stopped by to say hi, he just stepped out to find something to eat."

"Wrex is here?"

"Yeah I was surprised, the old son of a bitch actually took time off to see me." He looked towards Benese, who had giggled at his curse. Pushing his finger up to his lips, he gave her the signal for "shh," before continuing. "I'm not sure about Tali or any of the others. Not everyone was able to keep in touch ya know."

Benese recognized most of the names Joker shared, they were all people she had met at one point in her life or another. Though some were more familiar than others.

"Did somebody say my name?" The voice came from a deep and powerful source, one that could only be a Krogan. Turning around, Liara noticed Wrex standing in the door way. He looked out of sorts, wearing regular Krogan attire, rather than his normal full battle armor.

"Wrex, it's good to see you," Liara said, wrapping the Krogan in a friendly hug.

"It's been far too long Liara. I'm getting the feeling you don't want to visit Tuchanka any more."

"Well the last time I did, we were almost eating by a giant Thresher Maw." Benese's imagination ran wild with this, the idea of her mother actually on the Krogan homewrold was surprising. Hearing about the Thresher Maw, seemed to only heighten the ordeal.

Finally noticing the littlest member of the room, Wrex moved past Liara and up to Joker's bedside. "And who's this? Is this the little pip squeak I met before? No, couldn't be. I remember her being a bit less scared of me," Wrex teased.

Benese had hidden herself in Joker's arm, only peeping an eye out to gape at the massive alien before her. Prodding her to come out, Joker leaned in and said, "Oh come on now, Wrex's smell is a lot worse than his bite."

This brought her out a bit more, smiling as she showed more of her face to the world. Taking his chances, Wrex pulled the girl out and threw her into the air, which she loved every minute of.

A metallic voice interrupted the shrieks of pleasure. "I can see that everyone is getting along fine in here then. For a second there I thought those screams was some psychiatric patient down the hall. Liara, it's good to see you," Garrus said, coming up beside the Asari.

"Garrus, how is it running the Hierarchy?"

Giving her a wink, he said, "Like you don't know. A lot of stress trying to deal with the remaining Covenant species, among other things." He chuckled. "I can imagine it's a lot easier than dealing with her."

By now, Benese was on the ground again, looking up at the much taller adults in the room. "Uncle Garrus," she said, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Grinning, Garrus squatted down to be on eye level with her, "I forget that you are your mother's child. You're too smart for your age, might get you into trouble one day. Now how bout you go play with Wrex in the hall, your mother and I need to talk."

Growing a worried look on her face, Banese opened her mouth to protest. She didn't want to be shoved out of the room like a child, anything her mother had to do she could handle as well. However, Wrex had other plans.

"Come on pip squeak," he said, throwing the girl onto his massive hump to hold onto. "We've got lots of explosions to cause. Haha!"

The two rushed out of the room together, Banese too caught up in the rush to think about anything otherwise.

Now that the three were alone, Garrus spoke first, "She really does look like him. I know they're not supposed to, but she's got some of that Shepard charm in her."

Liara smiled. "I don't want to talk about it. Now come on Garrus, what's going on."

* * *

**A few hours later**

By the time Benese and Wrex returned, Joker had fallen asleep and Garrus and Liara were deep in discussion on the couch on the far side of the room. Noticing the duo enter, Liara stood up, rubbing out the creases in her shirt as she did so.

"Say your goodbyes, Benese. We'll be back later tomorrow." Liara strained to say the words, something had obviously shaken her.

Benese could see the wiriness in her eyes, feel the pain in her voice. It was subtle, but something she had been able to detect of the many years bonding with her mother. She wouldn't pester her about it now, only abiding by her wishes and bidding her goodbyes. She gave Wrex a particularly long hug, before moving onto Garrus, you gave her an odd feeling kiss on the head. When she moved on to give Joker a kiss as he slept, she noticed something strange. Despite his obvious snoring, Joker didn't appear to be slumbering peacefully. Instead, he appeared to be fully awake, trying desperately to fool the others around him. Looking to him in curiosity, Benese was about to push it into another one of her uncle's many quirks, before she noticed one of his eyes opened. Very carefully, and very quietly, he pulled out a box from under his pillow, and handed it to her. It was a cute little black box, with a note on it that simply read, "For Benese. Do not open until the time is right." Looking back to Joker, she watched as he put his finger to his lips, giving her the signal to be silent.

On their way back to the train, Liara seemed extraordinarily more distant than before. Nothing before had shaken her this badly, and Benese was more determined now to uncover the secrets her mother had been hiding.

* * *

**AN: **It occurred to me, halfway through writing this, that I had accidentally made a major choice in the ME3 campaign for this story.

I was supposed to wait to see if the readers of _The Cycle _wanted to cure the Genophage or not, before including Wrex into this story. Unfortunately, that little detail completely sliped my mind. Oh well, sorry folks but I doubt you guys really wanted to kill off Wrex. And if you did, you're probably a heartless bugger!

Great way to end a chapter there Church. Well, this will be expanded upon at a much later date. I just wanted to get the idea on paper. As always, thank you for reading, and please feel review to review and do the many other awesome things I'd love for you to do =).


	2. Prologue II

**Prologue II**

**Thessia**

Since she had been of age, Benese despised going to school. If it hadn't been for her mother's incessant nagging, she would gladly have skipped away, using her time for more important matters. It wasn't that her classes weren't challenging, far from it, it was the fact that Benese was never able to engage in the true studying she desired. Nothing there seemed to appeal to her, the teachers were dull and dimwitted, the other Asari students only mocked and teased her. The only satisfaction she found throughout the day, was watching the sun set as she awaited her mother's arrival to reclaim her daughter.

Her attitude remained unchanged throughout most of her education. She always held her mother in the position of her main teacher, always willing to indulge her more science and history questions. Benese was never bothered by her lack of social friends, believing the other girls in school were too attached to bizarre ridiculous notions such as romance or adventure. This was, until, she met the Elcor.

There was a specific group of girls, three of them to be precise, who always seemed to stir up what ever trouble they saw fit. Benese attributed this to their lack of intellect, forcing them to resort to more barbaric means of communication. They would often taunt her, mock her from afar, as they did with almost anyone. However, they had a peculiar fear of Benese, which kept their idle mocking to a rather minimum. Their fear of her, did not stop them from trying.

Though it was rare, their were, on occasion, aliens who frequented the school. Children who, for one reason or another, would come to learn and study. Since Asari matured rather slowly, in comparison to other species children, most would only remain in the same grade for a rather short period of time. Of course, the group of three would always love to point out the alien children's differences, mocking them for nothing more than their own genetic code.

It was on a particularly uneventful day, in which Benese's attention was entirely absorbed by a rather fascinating chemistry book, that her focus was directed up from the book. With the school day over, the kids all gathered around their respective friends and social groups, chattering away about the day's events. The group of three would always sit alone, snickering among themselves about the jokes they made about others. Benese sat by herself, as she so often did, reading her leather bound book, an oddity for her generation.

Something blocked her light though, and she was surprised to look up and find an Elcor standing before her. He was large, but obviously not full grown, barely half the height of an adult of his species.

'Another transfer alien,' she thought to herself. 'Should be interesting, most of these girls have never seen an Elcor before.' She was about to speak up, only to ask the alien to refrain himself from blocking her sun, when he moved himself away, shrinking back way from the crowd as best he could. It was all for naught, for he had already been noticed by every other Asari girl present. The gossip now changed topic to him, every girl wondering why an Elcor would be among their ranks. Unfortunately, this Elcor attracted the attention of three rather unpleasant individuals.

The triad stood up from their bench at the far end of the crowd, eager to have every focus on the scene they would create. They walked with a particular swagger, something they contributed to their own signature of crudeness.

"Hey," the lead girl shouted, as all three surrounded the Elcor against a wall. "What's a big ugly Rachnar like you doing here?" The other two laughed, believing the insult to be the funniest thing their limited minds could conjure.

The Elcor seemed to stutter, flustered by the sudden insult. "Peacefully: I'm only here to finish my primary studies. I don't wish for any trouble." Though the Elcor were known for their lack of emotion, this one just reeked of it. Apparently, he was young enough to still contain the hormonal changes that came with adolescent teens.

"That didn't answer her question," the second girl spoke. "Thessia is for Asari only. My mommy says so, and you are most obviously not Asari."

"With a slight pang of fear: My father is a diplomat, he thought moving here..."

The trio didn't care what his response was going to be, they had already developed their scheme long before he spoke. Without provocation, the three girls used their strength and weak biotics to knock the Elcor on his side, laughing as the alien fell to the ground hard. His bag, which had been on his back previously, broke on the impact, sending papers and tablets flying across the concrete. By now, the confrontation attracted the view of the other girls, most of whom giggled at the loud thud made by the impact between creature and ground.

By now, Benese had seen enough. Throwing her book aside, she pulled herself up, and marched over to the still laughing girls. The Elcor still remained on the ground, trying to turn his face away from the laughing crowd. It almost looked as if he were blushing.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" she shouted, launching a weak biotic warp at the lead girl. It smacked against the back of her head, causing her to fall to the ground, landing on her own face. This brought about startled gasp from the crowd, all surprised Benese had bothered to do anything at all, let alone knock the girl to the ground. She hadn't meant to, she completely underestimated the power her warp would have on the girl.

The other two helped her up, and all three turned to glare at Benese. They towered over her by a good three inches, easily intimidating the otherwise reclusive girl.

"Well now Benese, if you like the alien so much, you can go down to the ground with him!" the lead girl shouted, as her two side-kicks grabbed Benese by the arms. They threw her to the ground, where she skid across the way to lie next to the Elcor. The entire confrontation only brought about more shrieks of laughter from the crowd. "Take care of your new pet now, Benese," the triad mocked, walking away to an awaiting bus.

"With much gratitude: Thanks for trying," the Elcor stuttered, struggling to stand on its legs once more. Once she was back on her feet, Benese bent down to help lift the alien up, struggling under the weight of his leg.

"Just don't mention it," Benese responded, wiping away some blood and dirt from her face. She wasn't looking forward to explaining this one to her mother. Turning around, she started to walk away, hoping to forget the day's events ever happened. She was surprised when the Elcor tried desperately to keep up.

"In a friendly manner: My name is Wheatlen. In case you were wondering."

"I wasn't," Benese blurted, bending over to pick her book back up.

"With intimate curiosity: I happen to love that series, I've the entire collection of sciences from that author. Apparently, he was some kind of xeno-biologist during the Reaper war."

"Fascinating," Benese said sarcastically. Though she was trying to repel Wheatlen, she made sure to take special note of his knowledge in books.

"You don't seem like the kind of person to help out like that. Why did you?" Wheatlen asked, forgetting to include his species trademark emotional quote.

Benese sighed, knowing that no matter what, the Elcor would now remain her responsibility.

"I don't know. It's just wrong for those girls to treat others like that."

"With complete sincerity: Well thank you very much, um. What was your name again?"

"Benese," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Benese. I hope to one day repay the favor."

* * *

She spent the rest of that day with Wheatlen, discussing everything from the weather to new advancements in space flight. Though she hated to admit it, it felt wonderful to Benese to talk to someone her intellectual equal. The only time she would ever talk to someone this long, was when her mother felt particularly chatty.

"So what is your age?" Wheatlen asked. He had given up stating his current emotion with words a long time ago, much to the delight of Benese. She found it fascinating to try and guess the Elcor's feelings, without him blatantly stating it.

"I'm 60 now," she answered.

"Asari life spans have always boggled me."

Turning to him, Benese asked, "Why, how long does it take for your species to mature?"

"Slower than most, but much quicker than yours. I'm only 21, but I'm just considered an adolescent."

Benese shrugged, she wasn't completely familiar with Elcor biology, it hadn't been something she took any real interest in. However, she did love to learn, and nothing was a better well of knowledge, than directly from its source.

"So why exactly are you on Thessia?" she asked, changing the subject away from biology for the moment.

Wheatlen sighed, or whatever the Elcor equivalent was, before responding. "My father is one of the Courts' ambassadors. He decided moving to the Asari homeworld, would allow him to better negotiate for their aid."

"Where did you live before?" she questioned, her curiosity peaked.

"On Ekuna. It was mainly mother and I, father would always be off world for work. But, that was fine by us, gave me and my mother more time together."

Despite his impressive stature, Wheatlen's voice was rather high pitched for an Elcor. However, as he spoke of his mother, his tone grew more somber and serious, as if he were repeating a story he wished wouldn't continue. Again, this was all very odd for Benese, who had the impression that all Elcor emotions were only detectable through words.

"What changed?"

"Mother died."

The bluntness in his answer surprised Benese, she was caught completely off guard.

"You should consider yourself lucky, I never knew my father at all," Benese uttered, not knowing what the appropriate response for this type of situation.

"Puzzled: Do you know if your father was Asari?"

Benese shrugged, "All I know is that he was Human, but he probably died a long time ago." She chuckled, "Human years are like Kowakian years."

"Kowakian, what are those?"

"Vermin mostly, but some people keep them as pets. They don't live a long time, so they're used to teach children the meaning of cherishing something while it last."

Wheatlen looked over to her, "Are your lifespans that horrible?"

"Yes," her response came out solid and cold, she didn't wish to be reminded of the family she had already lost. Shaking her head, she continued, "You don't know much about Thessia, do you?"

Wheatlen shook his head no.

"I can teach you, show you how everything works," Benese thought for a moment before continuing, "if you want me to."

Looking away, Wheatlen pondered over her offer, starring at the sun as he did so. "Cautiously: So we'll be friends then?"

Grinning, Benese answered "Friends."

"Happily: Then maybe I could give you a ride home? My father expects me to walk, I don't mind taking you with."

With an eyebrow arched, Benese looked to him, "You want me to ride on your back then?"

"Precisely," Wheatlen said, turning his body around to face the opposite direction of Benese. "Just climb on."

Hesitantly, Benese gripped onto the sides of Wheatlen's sack, using it to pull herself onto his back. She struggled to for a moment, but was finally able to straddle the Elcor like a mount.

"Ready," she said, leaning over to whisper into Wheatlen's ear.

Without another word, Wheatlen started walking away from the now vacant school, leaving the troubles of the day with it. Now, as the duo traveled down the pathway, everything seemed to be just a little bit brighter. Looking up to the blue sunset overhead, Benese couldn't help but smile.

'I've never noticed it, but,' she thought to herself, 'the sunsets look so much prettier from down here.'

* * *

Benese had arrived home long before her mother, something that rarely ever happened. Normally, she would wait at the school for her mother's arrival, which would always be at dusk. Then, the two would go out to find something to eat, chatting with each other as they did so. It became a kind of ritual between the two, one that Benese quite enjoyed.

On the rare chance her mother did not arrive to pick her up from class, Benese would take it upon herself to journey home, where she would prepare both her meal, and something for her mother when ever she did return. Almost always, Benese would be asleep long before Liara ever arrived. By the next morning, her mother would simply go about like any other day, though it always seemed like something bothered her, a feeling Benese could never nag away.

She had just finished preparing her meal, when the house VI spoke up, alerting everyone listening that her mother had returned.

"Hello mother, I'm in the kitchen," Benese shouted.

Liara came walking in a moment later, attention narrowed on only her omni-tool. Words slipped up the screen, carrying information that Benese couldn't make out.

"No it couldn't be," Liara muttered to herself. She seemed completely unaware of Benese's presence, totally engrossed by the device. "After all this time?"

Stepping away from the oven, Benese walked over to her mother, who was looking back and forth from her omni-tool to a datapad on the table.

"Mother," she whispered, unsure of how deep in trance Liara might be. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

Suddenly, Liara's trance was broken. "What, who?" She looked down to her right, finally taking notice of her daughter. "Oh Benese," she blundered, "I thought you were still at school, I was about to leave." Her eyes immediately went back to the omni-tool.

"It's fine mother, a friend walked me home today."

The mentioning of a friend was able to momentarily return Liara to reality once more. Giving off a sigh, she turned off the omni-tool, and pulled out a chair form under the table. Sitting down, she was now eye level with her daughter. "So you've finally made a friend? How did this come about."

And Benese recounted the tale of her day, making sure to include every detail she could recall about Wheatlen. Liara simply sat and listened, filled with glee her daughter was emerging from the shell she had put herself into.

"An Elcor? I'm amazed they're even on Thessia, let alone that you were able to make friends with one." Pulling her daughter in close, Liara squeezed her tight, resting her chin on the top of Benese's head. "I'm so proud of you dear."

"What for?" Benese asked, "Standing up to the bullies, or making a friend?"

"A little bit of bother," Liara chuckled, kissing Benese on the head before she stepped away. "I hope to one day meet him. But for now, let's eat then head to bed."

Nodding in agreement, Benese ran back to the stove, her bare feet smacking against the tile floor, to retrieve the pan of fried fruit she had made. It wasn't long before both girls had their fair share of food, and immediately started cleaning the dishes. After that, Liara rushed her to bathe away the grime gathered from the day, before urging her to bed. She made sure to tuck her in, and give a kiss on the forehead, before turning to leave Benese's bedroom.

Liara stopped just short of closing the door, and turned back to look at her daughter. Only a small beam of light hit her, coming in from the hallway through a crack in the door, but it was just enough for Liara to have a clear view.

"Oh Shepard," she whispered to herself, "I wish there was a way you could have seen her."

And with that, Liara closed the door completely, leaving Benese in darkness. After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted, and she could clearly see her room illuminated by the moon and stars above, cascading dim light through her thin curtains. Reaching under her bed, Benese searched around for the familiar feeling of her box, the one given to her by Joker so long ago.

Wrapping her fingers around it, Benese pulled the package into the light, observing it carefully as she so often did. She was never able to ask her uncle what the box was for, he died before she had the chance, due to growing complications with Vrolik syndrome. So yet again, she was left with another puzzle to solve, and no real way to find the solution. The note, which had been written on yellow paper by Joker, had long since faded and been discarded. She was careful not to alert her mother to the box, something about it and the way her uncle had given it to her, suggested it might be best to remain a mystery.

Now she only had to figure out how to open the infernal thing. It wasn't like an ordinary box, this one had no openings or seals. If anything, it was more of a solid piece of metal, rather than an actual box. But she knew the object was hollow, and her rattling of it told her something was inside. Yet she could never find out what. Shrugging, she moved to put it back under her bead, when something grabbed her attention.

The moonlight, which had just reemerged from behind a cloud, cascaded upon the box, highlighting some sort of marking embedded in the side. It was small, something that would never be noticed in the otherwise cracked surface, and nearly impossible to make out. Struggling, Benese looked at the marking, desperate to determine what it was.

"It looks like some kind of alien tongue," she grunted to herself. She gave out a long frustrated sigh, before throwing out her arms and tossing the box across her room. "I'm not going to figure it out now. Maybe Wheatlen can help," she whispered, right as she turned to her side, and pulled up the blankets for sleep.

* * *

**AN: **To celebrate my completion of the first section of _The Cycle_, I decided to finish up the second half of the prologue. Really looking forward to where this story will go, and I'm going to enjoy the freedom I have with it! I know most of you are probably wondering why this is in a xover section, seeing as there's almost no Halo aspects. And well, there probably won't be until I'm done with_ The Cycle._ However, if you leave reviews and ask very nicely, I will be more than happy to share with you, through PM, where I want this story to go, and how it will fit into the cannon set up by _The Cycle_

As always, thanks for reading. And please share your thoughts with me =)


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